Coast Guard responds to spill off Galveston

A unified command comprised of the Coast Guard, Texas General Land Office, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, O'Brien's Response Management and American Eagle Tankers has been established to respond to a collision between two vessels approximately 40 miles southeast of Galveston Tuesday.

The 820-foot Liberian-flagged tank ship Krymsk is currently stable after sustaining damage to a fuel tank when the 166-foot offshore supply vessel AET Endeavor collided with the vessel. Action was taken by the crew of the Krymsk to transfer oil from the damaged fuel tank to a separate undamaged fuel tank. The tank ship's captain reports that approximately 18,000 gallons of oil was spilled; a Coast Guard team is underway to confirm this initial report.

According to the Equasis data base, the 2003-built Krymsk is managed by NOVOSHIP JSC 1, Novorossiysk, Russia

The leak has been secured and there were no injuries reported on either vessel. Both on-water and aerial assets have been deployed to conduct oil spill response operations.